WASHINGTON —(AP)— Western cattlemen have developed a general
distrust of the government after run-ins with the Interior Department
and other agencies over grazing rights, water use and various
environmental issues.

In the face of expected new confrontations, however, ranchers have
put aside their distaste for Washington politics and embarked on what
they describe as their most intensive Capitol Hill lobbying effort.

They're looking to Congress for money to offset the costs of
bringing ranches and feedlots up to stricter water quality standards
proposed the Environmental Protection Agency during the final days of
the Clinton administration.

``Implementing conservation practices is not cheap,'' said Myrna
Hyde, environmental director for the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association. ``In order to provide the public with the benefits they
are asking for, we're asking for their help to be able to do that.''

At issue is how to spend about $16 billion set aside for
conservation efforts over the 10-year life of the farm bill before
Congress.

Grain farmers want the spending to be focused on soil-protection
efforts, such as the Conservation Reserve Program, which essentially
pays farmers not to plant their fields.

Designed to protect groundwater from pollution by animal waste, the
new feeding rules would require smaller hog, chicken and cattle
ranchers to acquire permits and adhere to stringent pollution
controls.

Cattle producers predict national compliance will cost them up to
$940 million per year.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has promised livestock producers
the Bush administration would work with them, possibly by rewriting
the feeding regulations, before enforcing the new rules.

Cattlemen are taking no chances. Their lobbying campaign has them
meeting individually with senators and House members to press their
agenda, and they already claim dividends.

The farm bill adopted by the House Agriculture Committee increases
from $10,000 to $50,000 a year the amount of technical assistance
cattlemen can get for waste-control projects like construction of
manure sheds.

And farm-state senators, including Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat
who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, have said they intend to
give greater consideration to livestock producers while drafting their
version of the farm bill.

Merrill Karlen Jr., a rancher and feedlot operator from Reliance,
S.D., said cattlemen must put aside their reluctance to deal with
Washington politicians and fight for a greater share of the farm bill.

``There's just no place else to go for help,'' said Karlen, who is
president of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association.